posted 01-13-2016 02:00 AM               

Shuttle for tomorrow: Mock NASA orbiter 'Inspiration' moving for river tour

A full-size model of a NASA space shuttle may soon journey on the waterways of the United States, embarking on a mission of education and "Inspiration."

The mock-up orbiter "Inspiration," which for two decades sat parked outside the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Florida, west of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, will depart on its first move as soon as Saturday morning (Jan. 16) to begin its transformation into an educational outreach tool and the showpiece for a company developing new communications technologies for future missions into deep space.

"It is kind of an educational and promotional thing," stated John Pederson, the chief executive officer of LVX System, which has an agreement with NASA to study applications for visual light communication — using LED light to stream data — for missions to Mars and other destinations.

posted 01-13-2016 12:12 PM               

Are there any photos of the inside of it when it was being used? When did they close it to the public? I was there in 2011 and it looked like it'd been closed to the public for a long time, even then.

posted 01-16-2016 03:27 PM               

'Inspiration' in motion: Mock space shuttle on the move

"Inspiration," a full-scale space shuttle model that for two decades stood along the state road leading into NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, rolled, and then floated away on Saturday (Jan. 16), beginning its journey towards becoming a traveling exhibit and marketing showpiece.

The 122-foot-long mockup, which at one time housed a theater and simulator, left its mount outside the former Space Camp Florida and U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame facility in Titusville just after 9:30 a.m. EST. Riding on a multi-wheeled transporter to a barge about a half mile away on the shore of the Indian River, the "Inspiration" left on a four hour trip across the water to a Beyel Brothers Crane and Rigging's work yard on Merritt Island, where it will spend upwards of a year being repaired and upgraded for its new mission.

Photo gallery presented in collaboration with AmericaSpace.

posted 04-29-2016 12:38 AM               

Replica on the runway: Mock orbiter lands on real space shuttle strip

Almost five years after NASA's last space shuttle landed in Florida, an orbiter returned to the runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

The model orbiter "Inspiration" was rolled out to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on Wednesday (April 27), where it will be rebuilt into a traveling exhibit. The full-scale mockup was previously on display at the now-former location of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville.

posted 04-29-2016 07:12 PM               

Why'd they go to the trouble of wheeling it out onto the runway, was it to get photos of it sitting there?

posted 04-29-2016 07:58 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by p51:
Why'd they go to the trouble of wheeling it out onto the runway, was it to get photos of it sitting there?

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posted 03-23-2024 06:54 PM               

Downtown St. Cloud could become the new landing spot for a full-scale, NASA-built model of the Space Shuttle.

Felicity-John Pederson, the inventor who now owns the Inspiration, confirmed to Axios that his hometown has emerged as the most serious contender to host it.

State Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, told Axios the plan to bring the Inspiration to Minnesota is "not a done deal."

So, this could be downtown St Cloud. With a real space shuttle right next to our new children's museum. The governor mentioned this project in the media today. I've been working on it with some friends for a while now. It sounds wild — it might happen, but it would be awesome.